Bottom of the World
by PervyMonk
Summary: Madison Li sees something attractive and familiar in James' daughter. Madison Li/F!LW Written for the Fallout Kink Meme
1. Like Father, Like Daughter

_Sophie left me in a bar at the bottom of the world._-Bottom of the World, Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton.

Madison Li can't tear her eyes away, as much as she wishes she could. The girl standing in front of her shuffles from foot to foot nervously, raking a hand through her greasy and tangled hair. The vault suit is ripped in all of the right places that Madison tries not to linger on. But the feature that captures her attention the most is the girl's face.

She is the spinning image of the man she loved so long ago, and of the woman she tried not to despise.

"I can't help you," she says past dry lips. "Go somewhere else."

"Please," the girl pleads, and her voice sounds so quiet and lost. Her voice tugs at a place Madison thought she had discarded.

"Your father insisted that we return to work on Project Purity. I tried telling him that too much time had passed; that there was no way it could work," Madison finds herself saying. "Predictably, he refused to listen to me. He said he can prove that it will work, and he headed off to the old lab." The girl nods slowly.

"Thank you, ma'am," she says, turning around.

"Wait," Madison says, not wanting to lose sight of her face. The girl turns to look at her. She suppresses a shudder at the way the girl's eyes stare at her. She is frozen in time, and staring into James' eyes. She can almost believe that 19 years haven't passed.

"Yes?"

"Aren't you supposed to be in a Vault somewhere?" Madison asks, and she knows she is grasping at straws. She just can't bear for the girl to leave.

Not yet.

When the girl gives her a strange look, she elaborates,

"James said that was where he left you."

"I left to look for him," the girl answers, as if it were the simplest solution in the world.

"I understand that is the exact opposite of what he wanted for you," Madison comments. A ghost of a smile flutters across the girl's flips, and Madison melts.

Like father, like daughter.


	2. Hate

Their eyes are the same striking green. They both smile the same half smile.

Madison had spent the last month trying to forget the girl's features, but her eyes lingered on her face like a water beggar's lips would linger on an empty water bottle. Her hopes of being unnoticed are dashed when the girl's eyes meet hers. She smiles timidly and goes back to looking at her father. James is speaking rapidly, flailing his hands in every direction.

"Do you remember your mother's favorite Bible passage?" he asks, and Madison doesn't want to hear anything about Catherine.

" 'I am the Alpha and the Omega-the Beginning and the End. I will give unto him that is athrirst of the fountain of the waters of life freely'," she quotes, and James beams.

"That's right. The waters of life are what your mother-what we-were working for. A purifier capable of processing millions of gallons of water at a time. Just think of it, sweetheart. Fresh clean water for everyone," he says, and Madison hates him for bringing the old dreams back to life just when she had started to accept failure. She hates his bright optimism. She hates how he acts like the past nineteen years shouldn't matter.

She is brought from her brooding by the girl's voice.

"That sounds wonderful, dad," she says, and for a moment, Madison hates her too.


	3. Bitterly Disappointed

James pulls out a weathered notebook, and it's a sight that Madison never thought she'd feel nostalgic over. His daughter scoots closer to him to look over the yellowed pages with him. James and Catherine kept their notes on Project Purity in that book. Madison smiles ruefully as her eyes move over to the girl that the notebook outdates. Her hair seems to be even greasier than the last time Madison saw her. She smiles a world weary smile that makes the dark circles under her eyes all the more evident. Dirt lines Catherine's cheekbones, and James' eyes sparkle with a ferocious intensity.

Despite herself, Madison finds the girl to be quite beautiful. She meets her gaze again, and thrills at the sight of a blush covering the girl's sullied cheeks.

"Is this mom's handwriting?" she asks, and Madison bites back a scowl. James nods.

"Yes. Are you having trouble understanding anything?" he asks. The girl shakes her head in response. "Good. Madison," he says to her. "Can't I count on you to come with us?"

"Of course, James. I just abandon the lab I put years into to come chase hydroponics pipe dreams with you," she says scathingly. A little softer, she adds, "You know I will, you inconsiderate dolt." James chuckles, but the laughter doesn't quite reach the rest of his features..

"She's a little angry for me leaving, and rightly so," he explains to his daughter. She tilts her head.

"What happened?" she asks.

"_You_ happened," Madison says, and almost regrets the way the girl winces. James flinches as well, and pats the girl's hand.

"There were a number of complications, Sophie," he says. _Sophie_, Madison thinks. The name sends a shiver down her spine. It suits the girl. She nods again, but the sparkle is gone from her eyes. Madison feels a sick surge of satisfaction.

"Don't worry, honey," James says soothingly. "We'll get it working again."

"When?" she whispers, her voice barely a whimper. _Good Christ. She really does feel terrible,_ she thinks with a wince.

"We'll start tomorrow," James vows. "We don't have any time to waste."

"James, have you taken a look at your daughter since she found you?" Madison demands.

"Of course I have. What are you getting at?" he asks.

"It looks like she hasn't slept since she left that tomb you dumped her in."

"I'm fine," the girl-_Sophie_- says with a surprising conviction. James looks doubtfully at her, as if he's just now noticing the grime on her face, and the bags underneath her eyes.

"It's all right, honey. We'll leave in a few days after you've rested. Project Purity has waited all of these years. A few more days won't hurt," he says. She looks bitterly disappointed.


End file.
